GoodMorning / Afternoon , was curious when looking at your x-rays after a fusion , is there supposed to be bone in between where the disc was ?

And where else is the bone supposed to be ? Around the screws ? How about where your Lamina was ? (For people who had a laminectomy) So many question with so little time ! I been comparing films from 2004 to present and see very little difference. :rolleyes: My disc that was fused was almost touching the other disc after my first surgery , now it looks like it is touching. Wonder how that moved with them screws in there ?

Thanks for your replies :)

I had the same surgery in Sept. I compared my Sept. and Dec. X-rays and they look exactly the same. I think fusion looks like a white rectangle on the X-ray. I'm not positive. I found that onlie.

Hessie28,
But where is it located ? Is it around the screw heads where they cut the lamina away and or in between the disc ? The way my Dr. described it was like in between the heads of my screw and the middle of the screw..But I didn't see anything there..

Thanks for your post , I know it sounds like a dumb question but I'm not seriously sure where to look . :dizzy:

Hi Shawley. My fusion doesn't show on xray at all. My xray looked almost the same at week 13 as it did at 7 months (just a slight clouding in the space). With increased pain, the doctor was thinking I had non-union and sent me for a CT scan. According to the CT scan, Im solidly fused. Xrays dont show for all of us, but the hardware looked sexy! lol

My understanding..is that many also grow done or scar tissue around the hardware as well. Some do not.

As for my fusion... my fusion is in the disc space itself. They inserted cages into the disc space, and in the cages were sponges soaked in Infuse BMP, along with ground up bone that they took out of my back.

I have seen a fusion where they take donor bone and slice it in strips and adhere it to either side of the spine (such as the rods do, or in place of rods), and that donor bone then fuses on the outside as well. I saw this simulation from a doctor's, that I am considering seeing, website. It was quite interesting. He is from John Hopkins, is a ortho spine certified, spine fellowship surgeon, and he just joined my insurance program.

Happy New Year! :jester:

Tammy , I'm excited for my Dr. appointment on the 8th with my pain management Dr. I think he should know what my CT scan's show. I see my spine Dr. on the next day, I like my surgeon very much , but I wonder about him at times, when I had to go to a w/c Dr. the comp Dr said there was no sign of fusion . I told my surgeon this and he flipped out on me. After my surgery in July he told me my fusion didn't heal ,and that he added some more bone and protien to it . SO maybe he doesn't know everything, but it's so hard to get a Dr. to treat you after prior surgery, they all tell me there's nothing they can do for me. I was turned down by 3 surgeon's , as soon as they here I had prior surgery wham , sorry .

To my understanding , I thought scar or soft tissue turns to bone , please don't think I'm stupid for saying that but I thought I read that somewhere. ? I could be wrong . They used BMP for me too.

My surgeon is an Orthopedic spine specialist also with a spine fellowship . I really do like him , he's not scared ( if I'm not) to try stuff thats new. But I think he may be caving in on me..He wants me to try the spinalcord stim..Isn't that the last effort , just trying to make me more comfy ?
My new year was great , 5 minutes before the new year we lost power and didn't see the ball drop..I was not seeing clear anyway :dizzy:

Thanks for your post's there always welcome from you

Justoneofus, your post about your x-rays not showing fusion gives me some hope. My boyfriend is going to have a CT scan tomorrow because its been 3 months since surgery and his x-rays didn't show anything either. Please keep us in your thoughts. Hopefully we can start the new year off happy since last year was terrible. The only good thing that I can say is that his pain is under control with his meds.

Lynne

Shawley, My fushion showed up on the x-ray. It is clearly a white area where the disc use to be. I don't see anything around screws. It is my understanding although I could be wrong is that when they go in for back surgery the laminae is in the way it is the bony growth that sticks out on the back of the vertebrae. They have to cut some of the laminae away in order to gain access to the disc and their is no bone growth or fusion in that area. I've heard from my doctor that if I didn't have a fusion the body would automatically fuse on it's own because my back was so bad. He said that it would take a long time. I never heard of scar tissue or soft tissue turning into fusion or bone. The fusion takes place from the bone they take from a cadavar or the bone they take from your hip or a synthetic material. It is my understanding that your body is less likely to reject your own bone and that is the best choice. However it is an added discomfort because they have to do more work on you.

Shawley,
With my daughter, her fused bone showed up on her x-ray. Her surgeon packed donor bone on both sides of her spine at the levels they fused. He showed me where they had put disc spacers to keep the disc height, but I'm not sure if they put bone there or not. They used her bone from her laminectomy and mixed it with donor bone. I really freaked out after surgery when her doc told me he used donor bone. I do love her doc, but he told me that he thought that was what I wanted, even though on the papers I signed it said bone from the hip. Oh well, she fused and all worked out well. It was just such a shock since I thought I had asked him every question possible prior to surgery. I think he'll give us some copies of these xrays for her project so we'll see her growth again.

I'm sure it's hard waiting for you. I hope you get some good information when you go. Happy New Year. cas

Thanks you for your post's , I to had BMP with cadaver and my own bone with hardware clips and all . Ejreiss if you have no sign of fusion your body absorb's your bone that the Dr. puts in there. How are you going to fuse on your own without bone nack there..See thats why I thought I heard that scar and soft tissue turned into bone after a while ? I have heard from my doctor that people who are bone on bone will adventually fuse on their own ?
My neighbors way of telling me how not so bad I am , because of their gram's back is worse than mine....GRrrrr...I hate that !

Anyway thank you all for posting , I'm still taking post so keep em comming ...

I guess it depends. Did you have a fusion of the vertebrae where the discs were removed???? I had a 360 fusion of L4-S1; both discs were removed and the space was filled with cadaver bone paste. Supported by cages and screws. In my back, I am one peice of bone with NO discs in there at all-so I have no L4-5 anymore, just an area from L4-S1 all one peice of bone ( I am tired, excuse the repeated sentences). The paste ends up "growing" and fusing to the bone around it (actuall, above and below) making your lumbar spine sturdier.
This help at all??

Also, it can take up to 18 months for a fusion to "fuse". I was out of surgery 14 months before I was actually fused. It takes time-and then the healing continues from there.

I guess it depends. Did you have a fusion of the vertebrae where the discs were removed???? I had a 360 fusion of L4-S1; both discs were removed and the space was filled with cadaver bone paste. Supported by cages and screws. In my back, I am one peice of bone with NO discs in there at all-so I have no L4-5 anymore, just an area from L4-S1 all one peice of bone ( I am tired, excuse the repeated sentences). The paste ends up "growing" and fusing to the bone around it (actuall, above and below) making your lumbar spine sturdier.
This help at all??

Also, it can take up to 18 months for a fusion to "fuse". I was out of surgery 14 months before I was actually fused. It takes time-and then the healing continues from there.
Thank you Mel you have been alot of help...18 months to fuse ? My Dr.'s told me if your not fused or close to it by 12 months your not going to fuse ?
I already had on revision because I didn't fuse , I find out today , I see my PainManagement Dr. I hope he can read the report's. Thanks again :p

What a night it was last night , I cut myself short on my med's thinking that I'm seeing my Dr. at 11:45 am I could go one night and morning with no Meds..Boy was I wrong . AGAIN !

My legs feet and toes are on fire and throbbing...I really hope they find somthing for this soon..I'm telling the doc to give me another injection fast so I could get some relief..I can't stand this.. I'm sure you all know how bad it can get. And it's at it's worse right now ! I feel like screaming. I have 4 hours to see my Dr. yet. I am so tired..But can't sleep at all. On top of that I have a terrible head cold..Jeesh what a Friday.

I'll see ya'll after my Dr. appointment. :)

Shawley -- I will be thinking and praying for you!!